Debt Loan Consolidation – Researching Your Options
Are you one of the millions of people who have been so severely affected by the recent economic downturn that you are considering a debt consolidation loans program? Even though these programs have been around for a long time, it’s only recently that they have grown in popularity. Rest assured that if your finances since immediate attention, there is help out there.
By the time you consider consolidating your debts, you might very well already been in financial straits. Your payments are late, and your credit has been adversely affected. Perhaps you have even tried unsuccessfully to negotiate better terms with your lenders.
There are bad credit debt consolidation companies and organizations ready and able to offer you some assistance. A few of them are just non profit groups that do nothing more than teaching you how to deal with your creditors in asking for some more lenient short term payment terms. A few will send you to some free credit counseling classes, but at this point you’re not going to benefit much from credit counseling; you need to figure out how to pay your bills, not prevent further debt.
Even though services vary from organization to organization, they all refer to themselves as ‘credit consolidation services, and because of this, scammers have invaded this business model and caused problems for many unsuspecting consumers. Before committing to anyone, and before signing any paperwork, check them out with their local Better Business Bureau.
Next, make certain they are viable businesses. All companies need to register their business with the state they are in. These businesses are listed on each state’s website. If you don’t find a company listed there, it’s because they don’t want to be found and tracked. It’s simple to have a website, use a fake address and a non-traceable cell phone number. Just because someone has a website doesn’t mean they have a legitimate business.
Of course, the purpose of all this is to get your monthly payments low enough so that you can once again afford to pay your bills. Don’t get involved with a company who is demanding high monthly membership and servicing payments on a regular basis. After all, once they negotiate the new payments, their job is done. No need to keep paying them!
Any company that wants you to send payments to them so they can pay your bills is probably operated by a scam artist. It could take months to find out that your credit cards aren’t being paid, and that these people have taken your money and left town. You have no recourse other than calling the police and once again trying to deal with your creditors.
Find a reliable debt consolidation company to help. Be sure to get proof for each new deal they negotiate with a creditor and pay each bill yourself each month. Don’t just take their word for it; you want to see your new interest rate and monthly payment for each company on your new consolidation program.
